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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29408565">Misery Loves Company</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaronna/pseuds/Aaronna'>Aaronna</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Incomplete Merlin Stories [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Merlin (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Incomplete, Open permission to finish the story, Sick!Merlin, Uther Pendragon Is A Jerk, cliffhanger-y, just link this story in the inspired by box, sick!arthur</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 03:16:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>788</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29408565</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaronna/pseuds/Aaronna</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Part 5 of my Incomplete Merlin Stories collection</p><p>Merlin was sick, so Arthur gave him the day off. Arthur didn't pack a blanket, so now he is sick too.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Merlin &amp; Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Incomplete Merlin Stories [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2160225</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Misery Loves Company</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Arthur Pendragon, Prince of Camelot, was sick. It wasn’t entirely his fault, but his father had lectured him sternly before a coughing fit from his son cut him off. Despite how miserable he felt, the blonde doubted he would have done anything differently if he could do it over again.</p><p>He had gone with Gaius and a few other knights to a nearby town who had been attacked by a pack of wolves. Merlin had been forced to stay behind as he was still recovering from nasty cold and no one wanted to see the chilly weather do him in. So, Arthur and the knights had set up a few tents on the edge of the town and took down the wolves while Gaius was housed in one of the homes while he tended to the sick and injured. </p><p>He could have demanded a room for himself and his men, but after what the villagers had been through, he hadn’t thought it fair. He had seen how Merlin had lived back in Ealdor, and if that was, as Gwen had stated, the norm, who was he to make life harder on them? If he caught a chill during the night that turned to a cold on the ride back, so be it.</p><p>Arthur did feel bad that Gaius was going to have to cross the castle constantly to keep an eye on him since his father refused to let him stay in the physician’s chambers. Not that he had the breath to protest, but he thought his father was being too hard on all of them, the knights included. It wasn’t their fault.</p><p>Gaius had been tending to the villager and the knights had been doing their duties. In fact, it was completely his own fault since he was the one who had given Merlin the night off and hadn’t thought to pack any blankets. But he couldn’t tell his father that because he was currently being gently led out of the room.</p><p>Arthur barely even noticed he was in his own room before he felt someone carefully helping him remove this grimy, sweat soaked shirt and trousers. He could hardly open his eyes without the room swimming, but the prince knew exactly who was assisting him in pulling on his nightwear. Merlin.</p><p>Knowing where he was and that it was someone he trusted there with him, Arthur stopped holding back the sneezes and coughs. He let his eyes stay shut, limiting the nauseating effect leaving them open had caused. With the lack of vertigo, he could focus more on not swaying where he stood and actually moving without Merlin ushering him.</p><p>He knew he had reports to deal with and other paperwork, but he let his servant lead him to the bed and climbed in without protest. This seemed to worry Merlin, as he started mumbling under his breath about how tired he must be. Arthur heard his friend shut the curtains moments before he fell asleep.</p><p>*****</p><p>It was a soft clicking noise that he woke to. It was a steady, comforting noise that didn’t pull at your attention, but made you relax. He laid there for a long time, just listening to it until a bout of muffled coughing broke the soothing atmosphere. </p><p>Peeling one of his eyes open, the prince saw his servant sitting in a chair by the bed, holding an odd brown thing with three straight pointy things at the end of it, while wrapped in a blanket, directly in the path of the only bit of sunlight in the room. The sight was so odd, but as it was Merlin, it didn’t seem out of place at all.</p><p>“I thought you had gotten better.” Arthur didn’t bother to lift his mouth out of his pillow, so it sounded more like, “I fought two add cotton madder.”</p><p>It didn’t seem to matter what had been said, because the moment Merlin heard Arthur’s voice, he dropped what he was working on onto the end of the bed and rushed over to help the prince sit up. Once he was turned the right way and leaning on the backboard of the bed, Merlin handed him one of Gaius’s tonics.</p><p>Arthur didn’t ask what it was for, he simply downed it, stuttering afterwards at the taste. As Merlin turned to place the empty vial on the bedside table, he started coughing again. “I thought you had gotten better.” Arthur repeated.</p><p>“Yes well, it seems your father saw the look on my face when he was yelling about the entitlements of being a prince. After you fell asleep, I spent the night in the dungeon.” Arthur stared concernedly at his friend who was wearing a sheepish look.</p>
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